Could the internet be killed off?

[tweedledee]

Would it be possible for someone ( I mean a powerfull country like the USA, for example) to destroy the internet? Dismantle it and kill it off, or is it all too intertwined and complicated?

Sorry if I'm in the wrong forum.

[bazooka]

It is thouroughly redudant and multinational. It would be almost impossible to kill off.

[tweedledee]

The reason I ask is because I read that if a terrorist attack occured that was made possible using the internet, then governments may feel the need to either close it down or severly curtail it.

[Forum Troll]

The reason I ask is because I read that if a terrorist attack occured that was made possible using the internet, then governments may feel the need to either close it down or severly curtail it.

Doesn't Windows itself fit that definition?

[d_unbeliever]

Never. It will EVOLVE but it will never be killed.

[Will Hay]

It'll ******* kill us one day, never mind the other way around.
Will

[freestyler]

Once you try to pull the plug, it takes control!

Skynet!!

[bugster]

Moved to Off-topic.

/Moderator bugster

[vitualis]

A widescale and persistent attack (e.g., though unthinkable, if the US gov did it) on the worldwide DNS servers would probably cripple the internet to an unusable state.

Regards.

[fmctm1sw]

Would it be possible for someone ( I mean a powerfull country like the USA, for example) to destroy the internet? Dismantle it and kill it off, or is it all too intertwined and complicated?

Sorry if I'm in the wrong forum.

Hmmm, why do you ask?
*jots down user name and IP address....*

[yoda313]

Hello,

I don't think it would be possible. It may become unusable for the big stuff (yahoo - microsoft - cnn etc..). But the smaller things like regional sites should have enough redundancy to stay afloat. Aren't there several main lines across the world?

Kevin

[flaninacupboard]

a governemnt could effectively restrict access in their own country, but to really kill it you'd need to simultaneosuly knock out a -lot- of civillian run buildings. not really acceptable or feasible. even a massive power failure would not be effective for destroying the infrastructure - but may be enough to stop one paticular area/indiviudal accessing it - provided they don't have power back ups too.

[Will Hay]

A widescale and persistent attack (e.g., though unthinkable, if the US gov did it) on the worldwide DNS servers would probably cripple the internet to an unusable state.

Over to you George....

[tweedledee]

A widescale and persistent attack (e.g., though unthinkable, if the US gov did it)

How "unthinkable"? If the threat was strong enough, and real enough!!!!
( play TWILIGHT ZONE theme )

[Capmaster]

Unthinkable is right. That would be like killing off the phone system because of death threats. Not likely, or even possible, IMO.

[vitualis]

Although the internet is distributed, without DNS servers the internet as we know it wouldn't function. They are a weak point as there aren't that many DNS servers around (?? hundreds to a few thousand). I would think that it is technically feasible for a government with the size and resources of the US to cripple the internet if it really wanted to by attacking DNS servers.

Regards.

[yoda313]

Hello,

The US gov has just started using the internet the last five years or so in earnest. How could they kill something they don't understand!!

Kevin

--just a beuacracy joke! It seems like large units take forever to start using new more convinient technologies--

[Capmaster]

Although the internet is distributed, without DNS servers the internet as we know it wouldn't function. They are a weak point as there aren't that many DNS servers around (?? hundreds to a few thousand). I would think that it is technically feasible for a government with the size and resources of the US to cripple the internet if it really wanted to by attacking DNS servers.

Regards.

But I think we'd then see rogue DNS servers popping up, being run from clandestine locations by disgruntled knowledgable folks. Never happen

[bazooka]

Hello,

The US gov has just started using the internet the last five years or so in earnest. How could they kill something they don't understand!!

Kevin

--just a beuacracy joke! It seems like large units take forever to start using new more convinient technologies--

Yoda,

I hate to tell you, but you are inacurate.

The military designed it. It used to be arpanet. They wanted a way to be able to communciate with people on the other side of the world no matter what. If you do a little research, you will find out the truth.

[vitualis]

Agreed. Or some sort of P2P distributing system would get into place... However, there would be sufficient disruption to the worldwide network that your average person would not be able to use the internet and probably in many places where net access is sketchy (e.g., developing nations), net access (apart from local sites) would stop working altogether.

Regards.

[Capmaster]

Agreed. Or some sort of P2P distributing system would get into place... However, there would be sufficient disruption to the worldwide network that your average person would not be able to use the internet and probably in many places where net access is sketchy (e.g., developing nations), net access (apart from local sites) would stop working altogether.

Regards.

I agree it wouldn't be the internet as we know it

[yoda313]

Hello,

Bazooka - Sorry didn't know. But I thought the ground work for the internet was University based???

Kevin

[Capmaster]

Hello,

Bazooka - Sorry didn't know. But I thought the ground work for the internet was University based???

Kevin

Bazooka's right. The gov't designed it.

Don't you remember ...Al Gore invented it

He also invented "AlGorithms"

[yoda313]

Hello,

Hello - Cap - ARGHHHH!!!

Kevin

--Oh well, at least it was an Al Gore joke! Although I guess we should leave the politics out of it. Neutral, thats us! Or was that Switzerland? --

[vitualis]

The military designed it. It used to be arpanet. They wanted a way to be able to communciate with people on the other side of the world no matter what. If you do a little research, you will find out the truth.

No, it was so that communication could be sustained within the United States in the event of nuclear war.

The internet would be immensely robust to physical attacks. Knocking off a few nodes (i.e., physically destroying it by for example a bomb) wouldn't do much to the internet.

However, its logical structure is still susceptible to an intellegent focused attack. Kill/disable enough DNS servers and the internet will slow down to a crawl and parts of it will no longer be connected.

Internet attacks that have been somewhat effective that were on DNS servers:
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99995113
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993026
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992963

Regards.

[northcat_8]

Just like anything else...if you think the internet is popular now, just outlaw it and watch how fast the demand jumps.

It will never die, one reason is, although I'm sure there are some very smart "white hat" folks that think they can do what ever they want, there are 3 times as many smarter "black hat" folks who really can do whatever they want.

I liken this to DVD encryption...spend millions of dollars to protect something, and some guy sitting at his desk at home breaks it, writes a program for it, and distributes it for free on the internet 1 week later.

No way, internet is here to stay.

[bazooka]

Just like anything else...if you think the internet is popular now, just outlaw it and watch how fast the demand jumps.

It will never die, one reason is, although I'm sure there are some very smart "white hat" folks that think they can do what ever they want, there are 3 times as many smarter "black hat" folks who really can do whatever they want.

I liken this to DVD encryption...spend millions of dollars to protect something, and some guy sitting at his desk at home breaks it, writes a program for it, and distributes it for free on the internet 1 week later.

No way, internet is here to stay.

I agree. If you outlaw something, only outlaws will posess that item.

[ViRaL1]

Sure...it's easy. Give me a few hours.

[makntraks]

Maybe not killed but I've been here:

OMG-theend

makntraks

p.s. finally....

[bazooka]

Maybe not killed but I've been here:

OMG-theend

makntraks

p.s. finally....

:P